Urban Contemporary

Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever. Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the U.S. government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history actually been supernatural?

Chez Funiculi Funicula, le café change le cœur des hommes. À Tokyo se trouve un petit établissement au sujet duquel circulent mille légendes. On raconte notamment qu'en y dégustant un délicieux café, on peut retourner dans le passé. Mais ce voyage comporte des règles : il ne changera pas le présent et dure tant que le café est encore chaud. Quatre femmes vont vivre cette singulière expérience et comprendre que le présent importe davantage que le passé et ses regrets. Comme le café, il faut en savourer chaque gorgée.

The year is 2048. Climate change and bio-warfare have ravaged much of the Earth, and societal meltdown has splintered the US into fragments. But out of the ruins, Northern California has built a thriving culture based on respect for the four sacred things: air, fire, water and earth.

A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect “monsters” are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, US Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer. But some monsters are very real - and even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. The bogeymen of the vampire world, The Harlequin, are here in America hunting weretigers and human police. But Edward thinks the serial killings are just a trap.

Fenrir the wolf howls. Bifrost beckons. And Wes answers. The enigmatic Australian SAS commando awakens into a maelstrom of death and destruction, his memory in tatters, and his former friend and companion dead. In his hunt for answers, Wes uncovers much more than he was searching for, and enters a war which could see the entire planet destroyed as beasts of ice and perils from outside our realm of reality threaten humanity's very existence.

Curse weaver Kennedy Bennett has resettled into her beloved hometown and opened a shop selling previously hexed antiques. When she fails to win an online auction for a notorious cursed painting, Aiden Connolly - the wealthy and swoon-worthy luck worker she is not dating - swoops in to buy it for her.

The third book in Kat Richardson's best-selling Greywalker series, Underground features heroine Harper Blaine, walker of the shadowy line between the living and the dead. Seattle's homeless are turning up dead and mutilated, and zombies have been seen stalking the Underground. Harper sets out to find the source, and soon comes to realize she's tangling with an ancient evil.

World-famous (and now retired) photographer Jenvieve Adams has a debt to repay - and a soft spot for modern witches who have lost their way. Or so she thinks, until they actually show up.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Not when you're the devil's nephew. An unexpected message gives Frank the answer he's sought for years - where did God and Lucifer go? - but the knowledge brings its own dilemma as interdimensional war looms, threatening to engulf the Earth. Tasked with the planet's defense, Frank scrounges for a plan and finds a piece of his past better left behind. If the aliens don't kill him, what he learns just might.

The new novel - a book that sold more than a million copies the first week it went on sale in Japan - from the internationally acclaimed author, his first since IQ84. Here he gives us the remarkable story of Tsukuru Tazaki, a young man haunted by a great loss; of dreams and nightmares that have unintended consequences for the world around us; and of a journey into the past that is necessary to mend the present. It is a story of love, friendship, and heartbreak for the ages.

Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria Forester - even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that stone barrier, Tristran learns, lies Faerie . . . and the most exhilarating adventure of the young man's life.

A striking red-head, 20-something Jody is attacked and transformed into a vampire while walking home one night in downtown San Francisco. Befriending 19-year-old Tommy, Jody tries to understand her new undead life, but trouble finds her when the cops start suspecting Tommy of being a local bloodsucking serial killer.

Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Jean-Claude, the master vampire, and Micah, the leopard shape-shifter. Not quite as human as she once was, she is consumed by both their hungers - desires that must be sated time and time again. When a centuries-old vampire targets Jean-Claude and his clan, Anita finds herself tested as never before - needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves the most....

Something really strange is happening in the City by the Bay. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone - or something - is stealing them. No one knows where they are going or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Death merchant Charlie Asher is just as flummoxed as everyone else.

With the successful conclusion of the monster subjugation campaign, Eizo returns home with a new addition to the family—Lidy! However, his days of battling beasts aren't quite over. During a chance encounter with Samya's childhood friend, Jolanda, the family learns of another corrupted bear that's stalking around the Black Forest. Jolanda also mentions a tantalizing rumor about a magical knife, which Rike and Eizo are eager to investigate. Could this be a new product to add to Forge Eizo's lineup?

Zander is in an auction house for the sole purpose of getting someone to sign a contract. He doesn't have any interest in owning a blood slave—until he lays eyes on Max. That, he must have. Max is there for reasons of his own, mostly desperate reasons, and he's braced himself for a year of hell, which doesn't seem to be forthcoming. Someone needs to explain to this vampire that he's supposed to use Max, not spoil him. Zander doesn't seem to get it.

In The Killing Dance, vampire hunter Anita Blake finds herself the victim when a $500,000 price is put on her head, and the two men in her life-a vampire and a werewolf-aren't helping the situation.

"Dude! It finally came!" My roommate barely withheld his excitement as he barreled into the living room of our apartment with a package in his hand. "Check it out, Jacob." He smiled as he tore at the brown paper surrounding his purchase. As he ripped the covering off the package, bits and pieces scattered all across the floor of the living room like confetti. For a second, I thought about lecturing Todd about not making a mess of our apartment, but who was I kidding? This place was already a shithole. At least some half-assed confetti would make it feel a little livelier.

The God Wars destroyed the city of Alikand. Now, a century and a half and a great many construction contracts later, Agdel Lex rises in its place. Dead deities litter the surrounding desert, streets shift when people aren't looking, a squidlike tower dominates the skyline, and the foreign Iskari Rectification Authority keeps strict order in this once-independent city - while treasure seekers, criminals, combat librarians, nightmare artists, angels, demons, dispossessed knights, grad students, and other fools gather in its ever-changing alleys, hungry for the next big score.

Once upon a time...I dreamed of growing up and being just like her. I dreamed of having an adoring husband, two kids, and a beautiful home where my family would come together and enjoy all of our happy ever afters. But fate had other plans. My road wasn't easy, it was heartbreaking, and she was there, in the distance, silently supporting me. When all the angst, all the pain, worked its way out, she was there too, but not how she'd always promised, she was there from an unbridgeable distance.